


The Bitter Taste of Freedom

by RavenpuffWrites



Category: Night at the Museum (Movies)
Genre: Ahk has been through a lot, Ahk has trust issues, Angst, Gen, Larry wants to help but doesn't know how, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:41:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenpuffWrites/pseuds/RavenpuffWrites
Summary: If there was one thing that Ahk was sure about in life, it was that freedom never came free. There was always a cost that came along with it.





	The Bitter Taste of Freedom

**Author's Note:**

> I was scrolling through my tag on Tumblr and realized I never posted this here, so I thought I would share it now. I hope you enjoy!

Freedom, Ahk had long ago realized, wasn’t something that lasted forever. Freedom came with a price and it would only last so long as you could pay it. Freedom always had an end date, and Ahk held this knowledge like a bitter taste he could never make go away. Time and time again freedom had been ripped from his grasps without any warning. After a while, Ahkmenrah began to treat all freedom as if it was on a timer about to run out.

Often times it was.

Tonight had been the first time he had felt freedom in 54 years. Not because someone wanted to free him from the good of their heart, but because they needed him to save his tablet. They needed his help to save the museum.

Still, Ahkmenrah couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at Larry. Even if the night guard had only provided him freedom for a selfish reason, he had at least done more than anyone else had in many years. Besides, Larry seemed like a nice enough person, and all freedom came with its price. Ahk was used to it.

He knew the freedom would be short-lived. The price he was paying was but a small one, and once his usefulness had been expended Ahkmenrah knew they would be done with him. Come morning he fully expected his stone to be replaced and the locks done tightly on his sarcophagus.

Ahkmenrah knew his freedom was running out, so instead of wasting it, he decided to spend it doing the one thing he loved most: Watching the moon and the stars.

Access to the roof was easy to get to from Ahkmenrah’s tomb, it was just down the hall and to the left, and it was there Larry found the young pharaoh about twenty minutes before sunrise, staring up at the heaven as if they held all the answers, despite there being little to see thanks to the snow clouds covering the sky.

Larry didn’t say anything as he crossed the roof and sat down beside Ahk, noticing that from this angle you could just faintly see a few stars between gaps in the clouds. Ahkmenrah hardly acknowledged Larry’s presence other than the slight smile he gave when the night guard sat beside him. For a minute Larry studied Ahk, trying to figure out what was running through his mind after such a night, until finally he said “Not much to see up here.”

Ahk laughed quietly at Larry’s attempt to get him to speak, this time giving a genuine smile as he looked over the city below them, gesturing to both it and the sky as he said “I lived 54 years here and never got a chance to see what it was like. I wanted to savor my first and last bit of freedom here by memorizing the view.”

“Your last chance?” Larry questioned, turning to look at Ahkmenrah, only to find the pharaoh staring back at him with a sad smile, the kind you give to people you know are lying to you about bad things. “Why would this be your last chance at freedom?”

“You don’t have to pretend for me, Guardian of Brooklyn. I know how this works. You freed me so that the tablet could be saved, and now that I have fulfilled that duty my time is up.” Larry must have looked shocked by Ahkmenrah’s words because the smile on his face only grew sadder. He reached over and grabbed one of Larry’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “It is okay Larry. I am well aware of the price that comes with any freedom. I knew this could never be long lived, freedom rarely is and I am not exactly the most popular exhibit among the others anyways. They would never let me be free no matter the trade off.”

Larry opened his mouth to argue but before he could Ahk was holding up his hand, cutting the night guard off in his argument, insisting. “This is how things are meant to be, Guardian of Brooklyn. Freedom, despite its name, is never free. It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

Ahkmenrah stood up then, walking over towards the door and holding it open for Larry, gesturing to the sky with his free hand as he did so. “We should go inside. The sun will be rising soon.”

For a minute Larry stared at Ahkmenrah, a thousand arguments stuck in his throat on why the pharaoh was wrong about his freedom, promise Larry wasn’t sure he would be able to keep but wanted to make anyway. He almost said something, but he caught himself before he could, swallowing back the words as he stood up, crossing the short distance it took to reach the stairs, walking down them in front of Ahk without a word.

When they reached the bottom Larry hesitated for a second, turning just slightly thinking maybe he should make some kind of argument against Ahkmenrah’s words after all.

Before he got a chance though Nicky was running up to him talking excitedly about everything he had seen, dragging his dad towards the front desk as he spoke about Rexy and the cleanup and all the cool exhibits.

At the end of hall Larry managed to glance behind him, catching the eye of Ahkmenrah, who gave him a final sad smile before he turned the corner and disappeared into his tomb.

Larry couldn’t help wondering as he allowed his son to lead him off what he could do to convince Ahkmenrah his freedom hadn’t been temporary.

It started, he supposed, with finding a way to keep his job


End file.
